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Update on the Microsoft Bid: Google Sweats, Yahoo Mulls

It’s taken a couple days to digest the news, but Google finally coughed up a response to Microsoft’s unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo. And from the sound of it, Google execs are truly terrified.

"Microsoft’s hostile bid for Yahoo raises troubling questions," David Drummond, senior vice president, corporate development and chief legal officer, wrote in an official blog post. "This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It’s about preserving the underlying principles of the
Internet: openness and innovation. . . Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC?"

Yahoo, meanwhile, has indicated it’s going to take its sweet time reviewing the bid.

"The Yahoo! Board is undertaking a deliberate review process," a corporate FAQ said. "They’re going to take time to thoroughly evaluate the proposal in the context of Yahoo!’s strategic plans. This will include evaluating all of the
Company’s strategic alternatives — including maintaining Yahoo as an independent company. That process will take some time, but the Board will ultimately pursue the option that it believes can best maximize value for our shareholders . . . A review process like this is fluid, and it can take quite a bit of time."

We’re sure Yahoo employees are fine with a long review period, especially since all this speculation has done wonders for the stock.